At Davos, Why Is No One Talking About the Poor?

Unfair trade practices and poor working conditions in the developing world, issues that dominated the WEF agenda a decade ago, haven't been raised at all. Instead, the conversation is acutely focused on the plight of the Western worker.

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The World Economic Forum (WEF), often accused of being a talking shop of the world’s powerful and wealthy, has defended itself as “the most importantly appropriate platform” for tackling poverty issues as it gears up to its annual meeting in Davos. WEF’s ability to bring together decision-makers and influential people from the worlds of business, civil society, religion and politics is proof of its relevance to tackling inequality and marginalisation, according to managing board member Rick Samans.

I’m in Davos, Switzerland, to cover the World Economic Forum (WEF), the yearly shindig where global VIPs and world leaders — Marissa Mayer, Eric Schmidt, David Cameron, Hassan Rouhani, etc. — and “thought leaders” convene on the Magic Mountain to think Big Thoughts. (The latter, consultants and business types, pay up to $250,000 a pop to rub shoulders with top leaders.) I will be running around in my toasty new microfiber boots and warmest hat trying to see if they can answer the following questions: Is the U.S. recovery for real?

I’m in Davos, Switzerland, to cover the World Economic Forum (WEF), the yearly shindig where global VIPs and world leaders — Marissa Mayer, Eric Schmidt, David Cameron, Hassan Rouhani, etc. — and “thought leaders” convene on the Magic Mountain to think Big Thoughts. (The latter, consultants and business types, pay up to $250,000 a pop to rub shoulders with top leaders.) I will be running around in my toasty new microfiber boots and warmest hat trying to see if they can answer the following questions: Is the U.S. recovery for real?

Davos: It's "decoupling" day in Davos. Or that's how it feels. Everyone's talking about the Eastward shift in the balance of global economic power - and China, especially, as the key engine of global growth in 2010.